Three Poems
By Ruth V. Mostrales
1. Pentatonic
One. “The music box will go,” said Mother, impatient.
She was speaking to the child in me who will never part with it.
Two. I closed my eyes and thought of the days when promises
were spoken in melodious haste, but there’s no time to bask in the leisure of
idyll and reminiscence, for she nudged me and I was to decide at once.
Three. The philosophy of the music box, that’s what I call it.
There’s an entire eternity in what doesn’t end.
With unfinished repertoires is the prolongation of ambiguity.
Four. They are meant to amuse, but even the closed mind seeks
closure. One must supplant an ending by humming the remaining
pentatonic notes or winding it again and again and…
Five. “Okay, Mom,” I muttered, finally.
October 10, 2010
2. Cracked Pot
She survived a tedious process
before reaching the table, as a pot —
she was formed, held, handled, had,
mis-held, mishandled and mis-had,
but she harbors no sense of importance
in this, and will not begrudge
what she keeps. She is filled
when drops of life flow through
the cracks of her brittleness.
Finding herself on a man’s back,
dangling as he walks to carry water to the
barren, seeds thrive (after themselves dying)
along the way, because of her libation.
She may hold, or be held, but she harbors
no sense of importance in subordination.
3. Meaning Incognito
I realized something today.
I cannot find you.
You are hiding from me.
I hear you flutter by,
I sense your character,
I feel your weight on the page,
But I cannot find you
for you are hiding from me.
I cannot read you
though my eyes are ready
to meet you,
no matter how tucked in some place
you are. But you have hidden your body
inside a cave that neither
the sun can’t reach, nor its rays.
Still in the darkness
behind my lids,
I long to see you as you are.
And I trust what I remember
when you were visible —
assuming you have not changed
significantly, so I can find you.
Dec 13 2010
Ruth Mostrales is a freelance writer of poetry and essays. Her poem “Strangers” was published in Poet’s Picturebook, No. 38. “Kamsahamnida, Looloo”, and “After The Flood”, both essays, appeared in the Ani, the literary journal of the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the Youngblood section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, respectively. You can find out more at http://courtofreverie.wordpress.com/
